EVALUATING SOURCES

Begin by reading overviews of your topic.

Always think critically about every source used. A research paper can be no better than the sources used. Consider the following questions:

Is an electronic source as good as a paper source? Determine if the webpage provides equal or better information in terms of accuracy, authority, objectivity, and currency as published literature or journal articles.

Are there advantages to using a paper source? Paper sources have been screened by publishers and editors knowledgeable in that field. Their reputation and their business depend on selecting worthy material to publish. Material on the Internet is not screened.

Have you compared websites or paper sources to other sources if there is any doubt about content or accuracy?

ACCURACY

Does the webpage or source list the author or the institution that published this page, and a way to make contact? If there is no author, how does the source provide its worth?

Is the information useful, accurate, not just watered down from a better source, repetitious, or of questionable value?

Is the information fact or opinion?

Is the source updated often so the information is current?

Can the information be verified elsewhere?

QUALITY OF INFORMATION

For websites, are there related links or additional sites? For paper sources, is there a bibliography or works-cited page? What kinds of sites or sources are they: reputable or scholarly or even real?

Does the information have footnote documentation or other methods to reveal the source of information? In scholarly/research work, the credibility of most writing is proven through this documentation. However, because journalistic sources even from reputable newspapers may not document in the same way, they should not be considered scholarly sources.

If information is reproduced from another source, is it complete and genuine? Is copyright information given? It is always best to use the original source to make sure the text is not altered or illegally reproduced.

AUTHORITY

Is the author an expert in that field? An e-mail address by itself does not give authority to the site. E-mail the author and respectfully ask for more information in order to make a critical assessment. Check the Library of Congress for other publications by the author; Book Review Index and Book Review Digest for reviews of books by this person or Biography Index for biographical information; look up the author on a search engine like Google.com. A research paper is only as valid and credible as its sources.

Does the page give the credentials of the author, a reputable affiliation, and domain (.edu, .gov, .org, or .net). Look at the header or footer to determine affiliation.

Anyone can post a website with any information—inaccurate, biased, or misleading—on a personal website. In a URL, a tilde ~ usually means a personal website rather than part of the official website of an organization. Personal websites are not bad as long as the author is credible; however, publishing on the Internet does not guarantee credibility.

If there is no author, who is accountable and responsible for the content?

OBJECTIVITY

Does the page present accurate information objectively? Might advertising on the page indicate bias? If the information is biased, is the bias clear (for example, research data on effects of smoking on the website of a cigarette manufacturer)?

Does the site provide links to other pages or cross references to other sources that present the same topic so that the reader can evaluate the information more critically? Does the source provide links to opposing viewpoints to make available a balanced and unbiased view?

CURRENCY

If timeliness is relevant, is the page current, current enough, regularly updated and are the links maintained? For a website, the date may be important in determining whether the author is still maintaining the page or has neglected it. Last updated usually appears at the bottom of the webpage. Explorer File/Properties or Netscape View/Page Info may not be reliable because these dates may be automatically updated and thus meaningless for critically evaluating currency.

AUDIENCE

Who is the intended audience? Information intended for middle school students would not be useful for a college research project.

Consider using the following to evaluate the paper source:

The preface or introduction, in which the author explains his goals and focus in writing this work.

Table of contents and the index for an overview of the source and to find the specific page/s the topic appears; think of all the different ways your topic could be indexed.

List of references and citations that lead to related sources recommended by the author.

The assumptions that the author is making about the understanding of his audience, interest, and abilities as seen in the vocabulary, sentence structure, tone, and complexity of information.